Catch
by Feral Phoenix
Summary: Karst loves to pick on poor Felix, who just cannot seem to win. Ever. What's the big deal about one simple apple, anyway? Pregame, light Duskshipping, rated for Karst's language and mild innuendo.


Catch

DISCLAIMER: Wow, it's been a long time since I've written anything Golden Sun. :D Anyway, I obviously don't own it, I just own a few insidious schemes to make sure Felix and Karst get together. Muwahahahaha. Ahem. So don't sue me, that wouldn't be nice.

It was still the temperate season, so there wasn't yet any snow on the ground—and that definitely said something for a town as far north as Prox. But though it was midday and the sun was blazing brightly above the snowless tundra, it was just as cold as winter would be in equatorial countries, and there were few people outside—a few children playing outside their homes, a few adults running errands.

The exception to the daily usual was the pair of young teens standing by the sole tree at the riverbank.

"You can't do it."

"I can _so!"_

"You _so _can't."

"I can too!"

"Can't."

"Can!"

Most of the tree's leaves were already browning, and its meager crop of apples had been harvested—all but one, grown from a _very _late bloom after picking week had ended. It sat almost at the treetop, swaying in the wind atop its nest of leaves and twigs.

Its days were numbered.

"There's absolutely no way you can get that down," asserted the twelve-year-old girl who stood with her arms crossed confidently—almost boredly, even—right under the tree, looking up. Despite the cold, she wore a dark maroon miniskirt and a white sleeveless shirt, both made of cotton imported from southern lands, and her crimson hair was cropped in a messy bob cut around her face. Her flame-red eyes, pointed ears, and the soft slash of mauve over her left cheek marked her as a native of the forsaken-looking little village, as did the growth of dark burgundy scales over her shoulders and down the nape of her neck. "If you try, you'll just fall on your butt."

"Like _you _could do any better," sulked the fifteen-year-old boy behind her. Unlike her, he was clothed warmly but still shivering from the cold, in a heavy green tunic and white woolen shirt with animal-hide pants and thick leather boots beneath them. He was a little tall for his age, with a handsome long face framed by dark hickory-brown hair, pulled back into a short horsetail. His eyes were a slightly warmer chocolate-brown, and tended to hold a gentle expression, though right now they were dark with temper. His already pale skin was even paler due to the breeze, which didn't faze the girl but seemed to cut him to the bone. "I can get it and you _know _it, Karst."

She made a face at him, then shrugged. "Fine. If you really think you can… then go ahead, Felix. Fetch." She waved a hand. "As I recall, _you're _the one who wanted more of Sis' roasted apples, and this'll be the last one of the year. Go on, now."

Felix flushed angrily, but didn't retort—instead, he walked straight up to the tree, gripped the trunk firmly, and began to swarm up to the branches.

It was only a minute later that his foot slipped and his grip failed, sending him sliding back down so fast that his legs buckled beneath him, sending him flat onto his back.

Karst snorted. "What a _loser. _I _told _you so."

Felix sat up, glaring at her. "Oh, shut up! If you can do so much better, then _you _go get it!"

"Okay." And so saying, she gathered her legs beneath her and jumped, grabbing the closest branch in both hands, then swinging herself up. Felix, beneath her, was still sulking so much that he didn't even tease her when her skirt flipped back for a few moments.

Up on the branch, Karst crouched carefully, then stood very slowly, gripping another, higher branch as she stepped lightly towards the trunk, then put a foot in the V between two of the higher branches, levering herself up as she stepped from one conjuncture between branches to another.

Down below, Felix sat down in a huff, nursing his wounded pride.

To be fair, Karst was much more familiar with the tree, and was a great deal smaller and lighter than Felix. Her sense of balance had also been more highly developed than his, helping her elders ice-fish over the river when parts of it froze over during winter. And as a native of Prox, she was naturally immune to the bone-deep chill that had distracted him so.

Felix knew all of that, but it didn't stop him from sulking, all the same.

It had only been a few months since he and his parents had been brought to this village, rescued by the young warriors Saturos and Menardi during the violent storm that had raged through their home town, Vale, which lay thousands of miles to the south. The journey was so dangerous that there was no possible way to go back now, especially with the way that the people of Vale had treated Saturos and Menardi during their last visit. The people of Prox adored his family, and he was always especially welcome with Saturos or Menardi, but Karst—Menardi's younger sister—and her fiery temperament could be just plain impossible to deal with.

Especially considering the way that she _loved _to torment Felix.

She was such a show-off. And so _loud. _And it didn't seem like she had any respect for _anything._

Still, there were few enough people in Prox who were around Felix's age that he didn't have much choice but to hang out with her most of the time. Beggars couldn't be choosers.

But, even so… she could be so _annoying…_

"Hah! I've almost got it!" Karst called down to him triumphantly. "I _told _you I could do it!"

Back down on the ground, Felix groaned and put his face in his hands. There would be _no _living with her after this.

Still clinging to the thick branches sprouting from the trunk, Karst reached for the apple, straining. She was just _so _close… a few more inches, and she would have it…

But just as her fingers brushed the apple's side, soft rings of light surrounded it, and it floated away from its erstwhile perch… down to the gloved hand of the sixteen-year-old who'd just walked up.

He had paler skin than Karst, and a messy shock of whitish-lilac hair that fell into his face. Like hers, his shoulders were thickly adorned with scales, and his eyes were red. A dark, forest-green band marked the top half of his open, honest face, which generally bore a smile when he wasn't practicing his fighting skills or bent over a book. Like Felix, he wore pants and boots, though his pants were cotton, like Karst's clothes, and his boots were a thinner, far more worn leather than Felix's. He also had on a leather vest and a deep green mantle drawn over his shoulders. As Felix and Karst looked on, speechless, he gave the apple a once-over, polished it on his pants, and took a bite.

"AUGH!" The boy looked up, nonplussed, as Karst let out an indignant screech. "Agatio, you _idiot! _That's _mine! _I almost, almost had it, and then you just _had _to show up… _ooh, _you're gonna get it!"

"…Eh…?" Agatio looked from the infuriated girl in the tree to Felix, now sulking worse than ever. "What's going on? Why are you so mad? Stuff like this is fair game for anyone… if you _really _wanted it, you should've just used Psynergy!"

"YOU'RE THE ONLY ONE WHO KNOWS HOW TO **USE **'CATCH'!" Karst raged, then swung herself down from the tree, running straight over to Agatio.

"Crap."

"GIVE IT!"

Agatio jerked the apple up, out of reach of Karst's angry grasping. "No way! It's too late now, anyway!"

So saying, he turned tail and ran, with Karst in furious pursuit.

"Stupidhead! Get back here, or I'll torch your annoying know-it-all ass!"

Only taking a few more minutes to sulk, Felix decided to chase after them as well.

"Hey! At least cut it up so we can _share _it! I want some, too!"

As they ran cycles around the small village, the blonde woman who had been sitting at the window of the nearest house watching them laughed.

A man with blue-white hair came up behind her, carrying a tray with mugs of hot chocolate on it. "What are you doing that's so amusing, Menardi?"

She snorted, then flipped her pale hair out of her face. "Oh… just watching the beginnings of what'll one day turn into either a very interesting threesome or a highly hilarious love triangle."

"If you say so," he replied, giving her a disturbed sidelong look.

"…Oh, never you mind. You wouldn't get it, anyway."

owari :D


End file.
